"A troublesome Crow seated herself on the back of a Sheep. The Sheep, much against his will, carried her backward and forward for a long time, and at last said, "If you had treated a dog in this way, you would have had your deserts from his sharp teeth. "To this the Crow replied, " I despise the weak, and yield to the strong. I know whom I may bully, and whom I must flatter; and thus I hope to prolong my life to a good old age".
The month started on a very high note with news flowing all around, of the success of Operation Neptune Spear, carried out by a team of US Navy SEAL, creating ripples, sense of relief, respect, revenge, satisfaction, surprise, suspicion all around the globe. Launched from Afghanistan, the raid took place in Abbottabad Pakistan. This is perhaps the biggest hunt for a so called terrorists in the near past. Osama being found in Pakistan unwinds again some questions about the involvement in instigating as well as covering up of terrorists activities from their ground. OBL stood out not just because of his height but because of his serious conservative demeanour. According to a Taiwan man, Jimmy Wu, who says the al Qaeda leader, was a student in his judo classes in Saudi Arabia. He remebered an occasion when his wife came into the center and most of the students weren't bothered, some smiled, but Osama went to him and said, 'this is the center, and no woman should be here and registered his strong dissapproval. This was perhaps one of the earliest manifestations of his own Osamatic (a dangerous mix of lunatic and fanatic instincts) attitude.
But, there are certain mis-understandings regarding OBL,
- The CIA created Osama bin Laden: Common among conspiracy theorists is the notion bin Laden was a CIA creation and that the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were blow back from an agency operation gone awry. In fact, during the Soviet war in Afghanistan during the 1980s, the CIA had no dealings with ‘Afghan Arabs’ such as bin Laden and had few direct dealings with any of the Afghan mujaheddin. Instead, all U.S. aid to Afghanistan was funneled through Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
- Bin Laden attacked US because of the freedom enjoyed by Americans: This is what former President George W. Bush projected nine days after Sept. 11. In an address to the US Congress, Bush said: “They hate our freedoms, our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.”Yet, in all the tens of thousands of words uttered by bin Laden, he was strangely silent about American freedoms and values. He didn’t seem to care very much about the beliefs of the ‘crusaders.’His focus was invariably on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
- Al-Qaeda ideology has nothing to do with Islam: Bush was quite firm that al-Qaeda represented a perversion of Islam, but members of al-Qaeda firmly believe that their struggle has everything to do with the defense of what they consider true Islam. And bin Laden found ammunition in the Koran to give his war some Islamic legitimacy, often invoking the ‘Sword’ verses of the holy book, which can be interpreted as urging attacks on those who won’t submit and convert to Islam.
- Ayman al-Zawahiri, not bin Laden, the real brains of al-Qaeda: The conventional view is that Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor and al-Qaeda’s longtime second in command, has been bin Laden’s ‘brain.’ But in making the most important strategic shift in al-Qaeda’s history identifying the United States as its key enemy, rather than Middle Eastern regimes bin Laden brushed aside Zawahiri’s obsessive focus on overthrowing the Egyptian government.
- Bin Laden’s death symbolically important but irrelevant to war on terror: Many commentators have asserted in the past week that the death of bin Laden won’t make much difference to the wider jihadist movement that he helped spawn. There is some truth to that, but balanced against this are the facts that al-Qaeda was bin Laden’s creation and he was the ultimate author of the 9/11 attacks.When new recruits joined al-Qaeda, they pledged a personal oath of religious allegiance to bin Laden, rather than to the organization.Similarly, when affiliated jihadist groups have attached themselves to al-Qaeda central, as al-Qaeda in Iraq did in 2004, their leaders pledge their fealty to bin Laden personally.Bin Laden is one of the few men in recent decades who truly changed the history of the world. With him gone from the scene, there is no one of his stature and charisma to become not only the leader and strategic guide of al-Qaeda, but to inspire the group’s affiliates across the Middle East and North Africa and the wider jihadi movement around the globe.
But, the point of concern is Pakistan, which has been confronted with a deeply unsettling question. Could the self-appointed custodians of the national interest themselves be the greatest threat to national security? Maybe they didn’t know that OBL was there in the country. Maybe they’re so daft they didn’t really take this whole business of pursuing Al Qaeda seriously. Maybe they just didn’t think it was their problem. It’s too frightening to make sense of. The world’s most-wanted terrorist. A man who triggered the longest war in American history. The terrorist mastermind the world’s only superpower has moved heaven and earth to track down. A decade of hunting. Hundreds of billions of dollars spent. The blood of countless Americans and others spilled. And when he was finally found, he was found wrapped in the bosom of the Pakistani security establishment.The establishment has flirted with irrationality in the past. Now it appears to have perfected it. If it can be safe haven for OBL then you just need the 'common' sense to figure out the presence of Dawood & Hafiz Saeed in the Pakistani soil.Can India launch a similar operation. Do we have leaders like Obama who value the lives of their citizens the most.
His words says it all, "And yet, we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Three thousand citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts. As a country we will never tolerate our security being threatened nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defence of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attacks on our shores.”
India has lost more lives in terrorists activities than US. The country is the worst sufferer of such inhuman activities, yet we waste time on dossiers and cricket matches. If US knows the Pakistan inside out, we know better. Ultimately, the author feels its not the Navy SEAL or the modified UH-60 BlackHawks which won the game for them but its the political will to do so, the value it sees in the lives of its citizens. There is only one fact the leaders of our country should understand that, Pakistan despise India, and yields to US. Pakistan knows whom she should bully, and whom she must flatter; and thus she hopes to prolong her life to a good old age.
